2
Dan Vinge woke up in darkness. His head felt heavy, his neck ached. He had decided to travel to
Finland well ahead of the start of the Worlds to avoid jet lag. Had the long flights wiped him out
like this?
He began to piece things together. A photographer wearing a vest of a local evening paper had
approached him after passport control. He would take Dan to his hotel. A reporter was waiting in
the car, ready to interview Ruritania’s first ISU Championship representative on the way. The
organisers had approved everything. Had Dan not been notified about any of this?
The man had been so convincing Dan had believed it all. Interest from foreign press had flattered
him. The water bottle Dan had been offered in the car had seemed unopened. Why had he now
woken up somewhere entirely different from the official hotel?
The young man looked around. He was lying on a mattress, next him were a bottle of sparkling
water and a few apples. The room had two doors. The one Dan tried first opened without difficulty.
A bleak bathroom which did not even have a shower, just a sink and a toilet bowl. The other door
stayed firmly shut.
Where had he been brought to? He did not see his luggage anywhere. Someone had taken off his
shoes and his fleece. His wallet was still in his pocket, but where was his mobile phone? He should
call his coach. She had arrived in Finland already a day earlier to scout out the venue.
Dan drank some water straight from the tap, and tried to open the locked door again. He felt panic
starting to creep in when the door remained shut. What was this?
- Come let me out! the young man shouted making use of all languages he knew: Ruritarian,
English, and French. There was no answer. – Help! I want to get out!
He had no sense of time. Was it still the same evening or already the next day? Which newspaper
was it the man had said he was from? He remembered the chap who had filmed him at the airport,
Joel. He had given Dan his number in case he wanted the video clip on Whatsapp. The number was
almost exactly the same as Dan’s birthday, and it had stuck to his mind.
At that very moment the door opened. Dan was looking down a pistol barrel. Any questions he may
have had froze on his lips. The man at the door was the same person who had pretended to be a
reporter. Dan backed into the room.
- You are awake at last, you slept for nearly 30 hours. Are you hungry? Here! The man was handing
out a basket containing pot noodles and a box of meatballs. Suddenly, his phone rang.
- Hello, boss. I did as you asked. I told the coach to say that Vinge had disappeared off his own bat
because he could not handle the pressure. If she runs her mouth to the police, the boy will never
skate again. The man grimaced, and turning quickly, slipped out of the room. The door was locked
again.
Ignoring the food, Dan began to examine his surroundings. Was the room underground because its
only window was nearly two and a half meters off the ground, nearly touching the ceiling? It was
impossible to reach it, the mattress on the floor was not high enough to use as a booster.
Not for nothing had Dan practiced thousands of jumps on and off the ice. He backed up as far as
possible to give himself the longest possible run-up to the window, and leaped into air. He yelped as
his head banged against the ceiling, and he didn’t have enough time to see outside. He tried again.
EMMA, read the sign on the side of a building he was able to make out. Dan had no idea where he
was, but he knew what to do next. First, he needed food to maintain his energy levels.
When the man returned, Dan was waiting behind the door. He snatched the mobile phone from the
man’s belt, and dashed into the bathroom. He managed to bolt the door, and was keying in Joel’s
number before the man even realised what had happened. Dan had time to type “Emma and D”
before the fake reporter succeeded in lifting the latch. The pistol’s barrel pushed against Dan’s
chest.
QUESTION: What is EMMA or where is it located?
A) An art museum in Tapiola, in Espoo
B) Finnish female skater in the ISU Championships
C) Abbreviation of Ruritania’s electronic sport team